42 pages • 1 hour read
Yasunari KawabataThousand Cranes
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1952A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Figured Shino”
Part 3, Chapter 1 Summary
It is custom for friends and family to visit the home of the deceased on the seventh day after the funeral, but Kikuji visits Fumiko on the eighth day instead so as not to risk upsetting her relatives with his presence. He sent flowers the previous day, and when Fumiko welcomes him into the house he sees that they are now displayed in a funeral shrine alongside a photo of Mrs. Ota. The vase holding the flowers is actually a white Shino (Japanese pottery with a thick white glaze) ceramic water jar that was originally used to hold the water for a tea ceremony. Kikuji admires the Shino jar, and Fumiko insists that he accept it as a gift in memory of her mother.
The bereaved Fumiko mostly retains her composure as they discuss memories of Mrs. Ota, despite her clear sadness. Kikuji apologizes for his part in driving Mrs. Ota to suicide, but Fumiko denies his guilt and says that his mother was the real guilty party. She asks him to forgive her mother and himself, since assigning blame only burdens the deceased.
Part 3, Chapter 2 Summary
Fumiko brings in tea, using ceremonial tea bowls that are nonetheless suitable as everyday teacups. Kikuji is displeased to think that the cups might be a husband-wife set that would have been used originally by Mrs. Ota and her husband, and then by Mrs. Ota and Kikuji’s father during their affair.
Kikuji and Fumiko discuss their memories of Mrs. Ota and Kikuji’s father, connecting over their shared grief. Fumiko acknowledges her mother’s weaknesses—her unhappiness and shame—and reiterates the importance of forgiveness. As Kikuji leaves, Fumiko gives him the Shino jar.
Part 3, Chapter 3 Summary
Kikuji phones Fumiko and invites her to visit him at his home, but she says that she had better not and turns down the invitation. Instead, Chikako visits Kikuji and immediately recognizes the Shino water jar that Fumiko gifted him. She berates Kikuji for accepting it as a gift rather than buying it from Fumiko. Chikako then brings up Mrs. Ota’s death, announcing that she knows that the cause of death was suicide and admitting to phoning Mrs. Ota to warn her away from Kikuji and discourage her from interfering with the match between Kikuji and Yukiko. Chikako seems unphased and unrepentant of the part that she played in Mrs. Ota’s death and says it was for the best.
Part 3 Analysis
Part 3 relates Kikuji’s efforts to grapple with the loss of Mrs. Ota and the impact of her suicide on her daughter. With the character of Mrs. Ota removed from the action of the narrative, the character of Fumiko takes her place as an important secondary foil to Kikuji and as a potential romantic interest. This substitution of Fumiko into her mother’s role reinforces the way that Kikuji begins to see Fumiko as a proxy for her mother and a potential substitute in his affections. The inherited connection between Kikuji and Fumiko begins to develop, evoking the theme of Legacy: Imperfect Transmission and Inevitability. The transformative and symbolic use of tea ware to signify relationships and the influence of legacy is displayed for the first time in its most blatant and potent incarnation: Fumiko and Kikuji recreating their parents’ connection by sharing tea from matching husband-wife cups. This casual version of the later climax of their relationship foreshadows the way that their budding connection will develop.
Kawabata develops Fumiko’s characterization in Part 3. While she had a scanty presence in prior sections, she is shown to be independent and wise—quite different from her mother in personality. The views of grief and sorrow that she explains to Kikuji in their conversation, as well as her exhortations for Kikuji to forgive himself and her mother and let go of shame, echo traditional Zen Buddhist teachings. The relationship between Mrs. Ota and Fumiko is detailed with pathos that builds the theme of Legacy: Imperfect Transmission and Inevitability. The two women only had each other after the death of Kikuji’s father, and now that Fumiko no longer has to fulfil the role of caretaker for her mother, she is adrift. This reflects the unmoored sense of the characters in Part 1 after the death of Kikuji’s father.
Fumiko and Kikuji are both orphans now and share a sense of isolation that is particularly striking through the imagery of Mrs. Ota’s sparse and lonely funeral alter. It only has Kikuji’s flowers as a token of regard. The solemn sweetness of Fumiko and Kikuji’s interactions are undercut with the bitter aftertaste of Chikako’s intrusion into Kikuji’s life in the final chapter of this part. The contrast in tone evokes the theme of The Juxtaposition of Beauty and Ugliness. Fumiko’s dignified sorrow and pretty sentiments toward Kikuji make Chikako’s ugly vitriol seem all the worse by comparison. Increasingly, Chikako takes on the role of the antagonist she later claims to be in her efforts to control the course of Kikuji’s life.
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By Yasunari Kawabata
